Is Choice Modelling Really Necessary? Public versus expert values for marine reserves in Western Australia

One of the motivations for choice modelling is to provide values that can be used to inform decisionmakers about the non-market costs and benefits of proposed projects or policies. However, the question must be asked as to whether decision-makers consider choice modelling to be a policy relevant tool. There may be more cost-effective and convenient means of providing comparable policy guidance than commissioning a choice modelling study. For example, advice on decision options may be sought from experts, such as scientists. However, expert advice may not accurately reflect the value judgements of the public. The aim of this study is to investigate whether public and expert preferences diverge, using the choice modelling technique. Two case studies are utilised – the Ningaloo Marine Park and the proposed Ngari Capes Marine Park in Western Australia. Evidence of both divergence and convergence between public and expert values is found in different instances, with public awareness factors playing a role in this divide. Where preference divergence appears likely, decision-makers should consider choice modelling as a useful tool to inform policy.Choice modelling, valuation, experts, public, marine parks, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Juno Waltz

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The Role of FGF Signaling in Retinal Development

The development of the retina is a precise balance between intrinsic competence and extrinsic factors. This interplay is known to regulate the generation of cell types in the developing retina and similar mechanisms have been found in other regions of the CNS. In the developing retina, FGFs are a large family of secreted polypeptide growth factors. Fgf15 is the major Fgf expressed during retinal development in mice. Fgf15 is an example of an FGF that has been shown to control proliferation, cell fate specification, differentiation and migration during development. In this thesis I used analysis of specific genes throughout retinal development, as well as characterization of Fgf receptor mutant mice and Fgf15 knockout explant retina. The preliminary data presented evidence that Fgf15 is a good candidate for an extrinsic factor that may regulate retinal progenitor cell proliferation in the developing retina. When combined with the expression data, these findings suggest that in the absence of Fgf signaling, retinal progenitor cells fail to complete their normal developmental program

No Blossoms

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Persistence of the valence bond glass state in the double perovskites Ba2-xSrxYMoO6

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Effect of the Healthy Schools Program on prevalence of overweight and obesity in California schools, 2006-2012.

IntroductionThe Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Healthy Schools Program (HSP) is a national evidence-based obesity-prevention initiative aimed at providing the schools in greatest need with onsite training and technical assistance (TTA) and consultation with national experts (HSP national advisors) to create sustainable healthy change in schools' nutrition and physical activity environments. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of HSP on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in California schools, from HSP's inception in 2006 through 2012.MethodsWe used statewide body mass index (BMI) data collected annually from 5th-, 7th-, and 9th-grade students to determine whether enrolling in the HSP's onsite intervention reduced the prevalence of overweight and obesity in intervention schools (n = 281) versus propensity-score matched control schools (n = 709) and whether increasing exposure to the program (TTA and contact with HSP national advisors) was associated with reductions in the prevalence of overweight and obesity.ResultsAnalyses showed no difference between HSP schools and control schools in overweight or obesity prevalence. However, program exposure varied widely among participating schools, and each additional contact with TTA or HSP national advisors was associated with a 0.3% decline in overweight and obesity prevalence (P < .05).ConclusionHSP appears to be an important means of supporting schools in reducing obesity. Although participation in HSP alone was not sufficient to improve weight status in California schools, there was a clear dose-response relationship to the program. HSP serves as an effective model for addressing childhood obesity among engaged schools

Letter from Abbie A. Allen to John Muir, 1878 May 4.

San Jose, May 4th, 1878.Dear Mr. Muir:It was very good of you to send us your shadow. We shall prize it, I assure you. Hattie has appropriated it, and places it on the music rack while she practices. Hope it will infuse some of your perseverance into her. She is writing to you, with no one to prompt her in her effort-be so good as to imagine interesting matter of that which is beyond your ken. Annie Chamberlain said, as she looked at the photo - how I do wish I had one. Can\u27t you please her as well as you have us? Mr. Allen returned from Nevada last evening. Had a half day in the woods and brought me a rare fern - to us_ rare and pretty.Jessie has a long letter from Gracie Sterling. She is twenty-one years of age, and Charlie, the tiny boy that we knew, is eighteen. It does not seem possible they are so far on the road of life. Mr. Muir, let me impress upon your mind that we are to have a fine little maid of? , even among the scaly pepper trees. Come again before long to see my word prove true. Accept our good wishes, and drop us a line often.Yours truly,Abbie A. Alle

Improving Rural Emergency Nurses Comfort during Palliative and End-of-Life Communication

Background: Emergency nurses (ENs) often care for patients nearing the end of their lives or with life-limiting illnesses. However, ENs are hesitant to initiate palliative or end-of-life (PEOL) discussions because of a lack of comfort with these topics. Many ENs have no formal PEOL communication training which contributes to the lack of comfort with PEOL discussions in the emergency department (ED). Thus, the purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine how PEOL communication training affected rural ENs perceived comfort level during PEOL conversations. Sample/Setting: A convenience sample of 14 registered nurses working in a rural Northern Plains ED. Methods: A quality improvement project was implemented where nurses received online education using the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium Critical Care Communication module. This was followed by communication scenario review and group discussion. Changes in nurse comfort with PEOL communication were evaluated using a pre and post survey and reflective practice in the group discussion.Findings: This quality improvement project demonstrated a statistically significant increased level of comfort (N = 14, p = 0.006) when communicating with PEOL patients and their families in the ED. Qualitatively, the ED nurses expressed fears and challenges specific to PEOL communication while also identifying new evidence-based strategies they can use during PEOL conversations. Conclusion: Communication is vital when caring for PEOL patients in the ED. Formal PEOL communication training is effective for improving PEOL communication skills among ENs. Increasing nurse comfort when communicating with PEOL patients has the potential to improve quality of care at end-of-life

Variable temperature study of the crystal and magnetic structures of the giant magnetoresistant materials LMnAsO (L=La, Nd)

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A happy coon from Dixie

Text and floral designs; Yellow backgroundhttps://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/cht-sheet-music/4230/thumbnail.jp